Technical Your thoughts on 160° thermostat

It is the capability of the cooling system as a whole that should dictate an engines maximum operating temperatures.
If the system can limit max temp to 180, then a 190 thermostat will always be partially closed to try and keep the temp up.
If the system can limit max temp to 180, then a 160 thermostat will always be fully open and not doing anything.
Both scenarios will heat up to the 160 mark in exactly the same time. Both thermostats will be closed until this point.
Again, the thermostat controls warm-up and minimum operating temp.
Actual maximum operating temps are a result of the capability of the cooling system as a whole.
The thermostat should have nothing to do with controlling max temp. If it does, you are running the wrong one......

 

I think there's a lot of speculation and 'old wive's tales' about thermostats. I'd like to see real data that gives a correlation between thermostat temps and cylinder temps. 20 degrees difference doesn't seem like much in a water jacket when you're talking about temps at the moment of combustion. JMHO, YHO may vary...

 

Every over heating issue I’ve ran into has been defective parts or mismatched parts. Bad t-stat, stopped up radiator or system, collapsed hose, leaks, defective fans/relays/fan clutch.
Radiator too small, bad air flow, no shroud….
This summer, a friend of a friend was having cooling issues with an engine swap. Guy was trying to fix it by using the lowest thermostat available. This particular engine uses is a loop system. When the vintage air was added using the shutoff to the heater core, the loop was blocked. The overheating was cured by adding a bypass shutoff to the heater core.

 

Yep, some people seem to think that installing a lower temp rated thermostat will magically make the engine run cooler and fix their overheating problem. If only it was that simple........

 

I wish we has a dyno at school.
Testing the same engine with different t-stats, no stat, different size mechanical and electric fans, shrouds, no shroud. would be cool.
Maybe a couple different size radiators.
Measure water temp at the head, intake and oil temps.
I’ve thought about getting the different stats available for my caddy engine and testing all of them including no stat.

 

Dyno s are nice but not real life. Sitting In traffic then moving, never having any more rpm over 16-1800, 95*, 70*, 110*, enclosed hoods, 15% ethanol gas, climbing up to 3-4000 ft, etc. All are a test of the cooling system that works for you.

 

Better than our run stand. No load.

 

https://www.semanticscholar.org/pap...roop/83fbfb7e7d2c142ba2b8295cd438c31affe92e7c

https://saemobilus.sae.org/content/2011-26-0089/

https://www.researchgate.net/public...ignition_engine_fuelled_with_gasoline_and_CNG

You would to create accounts to view these.

 

Got a 4.3 with 1/4 million miles logged on it. (Parts chaser)
It has a pretty severe rusty water problem...rotten heater core (its now gone)...neglected coolant over the years.....
Now I'm paying the price.
I've flushed it ....ran vinegar in the system....flushed it....then the thermostat stuck CLOSED on it this week!
(got hot enough the engine wouldn't turn over!!!)
Flushed some more & no thermostat!
Still goes to 200+ in summer weather.
No thermostat for me
Mighta got off the subject just a little...
My (M-word!) SBF has a 160 therm with electric fan runs just fine.
6sally6

 

The real difference between a 160 and a 180 degree thermostat is that when you encounter a situation where your coolant temp begins to rise ( idling in traffic on a hot day, climbing a long, steep hill) the 160 degree thermostat will give you 20 more degrees extra before you reach the trouble point. I replaced the 180 thermostats with 160s in my pickup ( avatar) along with a couple of new Speedy waterpumps and now I can sit idling for a while on a hot day with no problems.

 

I borrowed a friend's van one summer for a long road trip. Drove back late at night in the cold mountains back to the coast, it's many miles of slight downhill.
The gauge went all the way to "Cold", the heater blew cold air, and the engine sputtered and coughed when I'd occasionally have to give it gas at the end of the descents.
I checked the thermostat, he had punched it so full of holes it was pretty much an open port. This was done to cure overheating caused by the electric fan not working.

 

Back when we were running the "Super Stock" roundy rounder at Petaluma, tube frame, 360 max, alcohol carb, all these guys were running all this "trick" stuff and running hot, no thermo, restricter washer etc. They were total loss electrical, VW belt running the water pump only. I measured the radiator and went to the junkyard, found a shroud in a Lincoln MKIV that was almost perfect, just a little trimming for hose clearance. That, a stock 4-blade fan and a 180 thermo, and it never got hot, no problems
If you ever tinkered with the little Ford 8N tractors, you know about the thermo- an obvious add-on, as it is inserted in the upper radiator hose. Brass tube with a flapper valve and a spring, brutally simple but it works. About a hear ago, one of the hoses on my all-original '50 started coming apart internally, and a chunk of rubber stuck the flapper closed. No temp guage on those, they just puke water out of the cap when unhappy. Pulled the hoses and replaced, cleaned the chunk out of the thermo and put it in the new hose, still chuggin'

 

The lower temp rating of a stat simply delays the inevitable. If an engine overheats, or runs hotter than the stat, then it's going to get to that point regardless.

 

Absolutely correct.
And when you consider how quickly an engine warms up from a cold start, you are only delaying the inevitable by a matter of minutes.

 

Run a 190 in my stock 302. Champion aluminum radiator, stock clutch fan, no shroud. Runs 190 all the time.